Through 54 games played during the 2024-25 NBA season, it's evident that the OKC Thunder are dominating the Western Conference.
At 44-10, Oklahoma City finds itself with as much of a gap between them and the second-seeded Grizzlies (36-18) as Memphis has with the 10-seeded Golden State Warriors (28-27).
Yet, despite the Thunder's clear superiority among their conference foes, Dubs star Draymond Green still believes his team will find a way to claim their fifth championship in 11 seasons come the conclusion of the campaign.
His reasoning: There's no real competition.
Draymond Green says no team, not even the Thunder, scare Warriors
During a sit-down with NBA on TNT at All-Star Weekend, Green made the incredibly bold prediction that the Warriors "are going to win the championship," and, in doing so, went on to put down the entire league, including the top-seeded Thunder, in the process.
"I don't believe any of these teams are that great... You gotta go through Boston, you got to get through the champs. We gotta get through the West first but none of these teams scare me. I don't see any team that I'm like, 'Oh, that's the team that's gonna do it.' You wanna know why you don't see that team? Because you're about to start seeing that team. It is the Warriors," Green said.
Even with Golden State's deadline addition of All-Star Jimmy Butler, for someone who currently plays for a fringe Play-In Tournament team this is quite a bold take to make. That said, considering he's one of the most outspoken players the league has to offer this should come as little surprise to fans and pundits.
It's certainly not coming as a shock to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Frankly, if nothing else, this rhetoric and indirect slight could very well serve as even more motivation for the Thunder during this second-half stretch run. This thought alone could be enough to instill a sense of fear within Green that he claims is currently absent.
Already, Oklahoma City is on the brink of accomplishing a bevy of historical and highly noteworthy feats.
From being on pace to edging out the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls by recording the greatest net rating in NBA history (13.5) to becoming the youngest team ever to finish as the top seed in the conference standings in back-to-back seasons at an average age of 24.4, this Thunder squad is shaping up to be one of the best teams the league has seen in some time.
Add on the fact that they have the most likely candidate to take home MVP honors in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, whose averages of of 32.5 points, 6.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.0 blocks on 52.3 percent shooting from the floor and 35.9 percent from distance are rivaled by only Michael Jordan, and it's no wonder that OKC is viewed as the odds-on favorite to win the 2025 NBA Finals.
If all this wasn't enough to convince Draymond Green that he and his Warriors have a tough road ahead of them, perhaps a well-rested and extra motivated Thunder team following his slanderous comments might.